Jwala Gutta believes partner Ponnappa should be honoured too

Jwala Gutta was obviously thrilled to receive the prestigious Arjuna award at the hands of the President of India Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the Capital yesterday.

However, the Wardha-born Hyderabadi shuttler reckoned her doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa too deserved an award for equally contributing to her success.

Jwala and Ashwini came together about two years ago and hit the high notes when they clinched the gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Earlier this month, the duo created history again by becoming Indian badminton's first doubles pair to win a medal -- a bronze -- at the World Championships in London.

"Of course, Ashwini deserves it (Arjuna award) too. She has played an equally important role in all my victories.
She must be credited fir it, but then you know how it is ufffd there's a particular criteria... there are some procedures involved," Jwala told MiD DAY from New Delhi yesterday.

"However, Ashwini is a fantastic shuttler and I am sure she will get the award sooner rather than later," added the 27-year-old.

Jwala meanwhile, said that the celebrations have been put on hold till her birthday on September 7. "I've no plans of a celebrating now, but we will have a get-together with friends and family on my birthday. As of now, the feeling is just sinking in," she said.

Jwala said the Arjuna award would serve as a huge motivation to do well in the London Olympics next year.

"Definitely it (the award) is a big boost for the Olympics. My ultimate goal is to win a medal there. But I am not thinking that far now. I am focused on doing well in the upcoming tournaments in Asia," she said.

Nineteen sportspersons --Rahul Banerjee (archery), Preeja Sreedharan (athletics), Suranjoy Singh (boxing), Sunil Chhetri (football), Rajpal Singh (hockey), Rakesh Kumar (kabaddi), Tejeswini Bai V (kabaddi), Tejaswini Sawant (shooting), Veerdhawal Khade (swimming), Sanjay Kumar (volleyball), Ravinder Singh (wrestling), Naib Subedar Katulu Ravikumar (weightlifting) -- received the Arjuna award. Shooter Gagan Narang won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.